At least, that is my take on the article in the Chronicle of Higher Education:
http://chronicle.com/article/I-Fully-Expect-to-Die-With/138507/
It notes that student debt for those over 60 is over $38 Billion and for over 50 is $155 Billion! Here is the short story as I see it. Many students go to far too many undergraduate schools where far too many don’t get the education they deserve and pay for. Convinced they just need more “education”, many return to grad school, pay more, doesn’t matter…Do the professors care? (Some do; many think they do, but don’t; certainly not enough to do anything about it.) Does the administration care? They have their money. Anyway, what I posted as a comment might make this clearer.
(The Ms. Roberts I refer to is discussed in the article. She went to Columbia Univ. for a PhD so she could be a professor. After much time and money, A’s in her courses, and encouragement and approvals, she was told, no, she would not get a doctorate. She says she wishes they had told her early on that she wouldn’t get a PhD.) Here is the post:
“This enormous debt story is just more evidence of the outrageously unscrupulous scam that too much of higher education has become, something that I have seen close-up and from the inside. I am not at all surprised at a student being encouraged to go to graduate school, not for the student, but for the school, the department, the faculty. I’ve seen professors getting “national need” grants and then granting a PhD to a math student that couldn’t solve a hard problem from a college algebra text, or a hard, but standard, calculus problem – and this at a very highly ranked school. . And how many times have I heard, “Well,now you need a graduate degree to get a good job”. That is not at all true, if your college professors truly saw that you got an undergraduate education.
In the particular case of Ms. Roberts, her professors said that she wasn’t “measuring up”. Were they “measuring up” when they gave Ms. Roberts A’s, encouraged her, but then later told her SHE wasn’t “measuring up”? Maybe they “measured up” in graduate student enrollment and revenue production. Maybe they “measured up” in doing their own research without paying sufficient attention to Ms. Roberts research, or, maybe they “measured up” in giving in to any colleague who didn’t like Ms. Roberts work – for whatever reason. Maybe they didn’t grant a degree when they should have; anyone who is corrupt or irresponsible enough to give degrees when they shouldn’t is certainly corrupt or irresponsible enought to NOT give a degree when they should. Obviously, I don’t know in this case. What I do know is that far too many faculty members at far too many universities are far too irresponsible and uncaring. How can society accept it when a system that doesn’t have the habit of acting in good faith grants or doesn’t grant a degree?
I have quoted David Riesman before, but he worth repeating here.
““…advantage can still be taken of [students] by unscrupulous instructors and institutions..Like any other interest group, the student estate often does not grasp its own interests, and those who speak in its name are not always its friends…” David Riesman (From “On Higher Education “)“
SCAMMED.
Better fix that fast, before a horde comes a’stomping over here from CHE.
Good blog, btw. Thanks for the link.
I am the Roberts in the CHE article. I am concerned that when the article comes out in print, my corrections- or amplifications- will be lost, so would like to take this opportunity to keep them in the air. Due to the focus of the article and editing, certain important facts regarding my case have been left out.
First fact- I went to the Chronicle, and other newspapers, because I felt terribly wronged by my institution. I was a student in good standing for all of those years. My work had been encouraged by my advisors. It wasn’t until I got 3 papers including the proposal for the dissertation in finished order at the request of my advisor, that my first paper- enthusiastically received by both advisors over 4 years before- was rejected, in a most brutal way. As a result, so was the second paper, and essentially the proposal, (although they refused to formally review it) because it grew out of the findings of the certification papers. The rejection was to all appearance orchestrated primarily by a new professor I had never met (I had been working and writing in New Mexico) and who was appointed, at that moment, to be my advisor. I have proof ,including audio, (that is right), of encouragement from my other two advisors prior to this rejection.
Another excluded fact: I was not only married to a very wealthy man-he was also a citizen of another country, and that meant no enforceable child support. He cut me off from any support for over 5 years with two very small children. I was an artist with only a certificate from an art school- albeit a very well respected one. I did not even have an undergraduate degree. So yes, during the divorce, I did panic about my lack of necessary degrees- artists traditionally teach to make a living, and that now means an MFA. But I did not just go and get financial aid and get two masters straight in a row, and then frivolously go for the doctorate.
Since I had gone to such a good school (The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts) and done well, I was able to go directly for an MFA- with two scholarships- no loans (also left out of the article). I attended the University of Washington and was one of their best students, I have been told in numerous letters of reference by my faculty there. However, that did not get me a professorship, which is why I had gone. I worked 4 years however I could, and painted, and raised my children before moving to NYC for my art career (I had acquired some funds from another source for the move. I owed no financial aid at this point, so that was my right). I was encouraged in this move by former instructor and NY artist, Will Barnet- who got me on the waiting list for the (then) subsidized artist housing I still live in.
After two years here in NYC I started attending Teachers College, so that I could support my family through teaching in the public schools. I admit, that move was under researched, and as I see it now- naive. In hindsight- I regret it. But I had two children, had almost exhausted funds set aside to help me enter the art world here, and had so far not gotten an art professorship. As parents know, older children, as mine were, do not move easily. I had to try to find a way to make it work for all of us, here in NYC, if I could.
The lack of undergraduate degree still made teaching in NYC almost impossible. The policy here is that without an undergraduate degree you cannot teach as a regular teacher in our fine schools, even with a Masters.
But I did very well at TC, and got a Masters of Education in Art Education, while working part time. And yes, that is when I took out my first loans. I was interested in what I was thinking about, and had been so successful in my other academic endeavors I had no reason to believe that I would not be in this one. I felt sure my career would blossom. I enrolled for the Doctorate, with encouragement from the faculty. I was in my 40’s. Late, but that is what happens with single parents (most of whom are women).
Because of the way I was subsequently treated by TC, I have sent numerous letters. First, of course, to the involved faculty and administration at TC. When I wrote to the President, she answered me, only and always, through Columbia’s lawyer. Their way of dealing with the problem (which was probably a content they could not handle, even though they will say it was the unorthodox form which they were approving as I wrote) was to slam my work, and then give me 3 months to rewrite the two first papers, that had taken many years (remember, I was also raising children, and had to work because my program never gave me a T.A position). They refused to review the proposal until this was done, to new professors satisfaction, although my “real” advisor had read it, and said it was strong, and to- “get it in finished format”. I was given an ultimatum- to rewrite according to the criteria of an unknown professor who did not respect the work at all, in three months, as well as go from research status to Dissertation status- from a cost of a couple of hundred a semester to a couple of thousand, or I was “free” to take my work elsewhere. I was maxed out on financial aid. They knew that. How could I take my work elsewhere? I was ousted. Plain and simple.
I believe my work was censored- or worse. One administrator told me on the phone that if I thought I could criticize academia and still get an academic degree, I was mistaken. I had understood that the purpose of a dissertation was to supply what is missing in a field; which comes from questioning and looking at that field critically. I did not realize that critical thinking was only to be applied to others, never to academia itself, and least of all by a student. I was an artist, looking at higher art education, analyzing what appeared to be missing from the discussions in higher art ed, and ways to correct the situation. I was not 19. I had worked and studied in the fields of art and art education, in many different settings. I was speaking and researching from an informed position.
All appeals were useless. After living with huge, un-payable bills from the DOE and Teachers College, I received a letter from the Dept. of Justice, threatening to attach any funds I had, and my (then future) social security. At their request, I proved my dire financial state. The Dept. of Justice then returned the case to the DOE, who again wrote to me through a collection agency. I wrote to President Obama, whose people answered and said they would forward my situation on to the proper department. The DOE of course, and the collection agency again, who at that point explained that on top of my debt I owed $50,000 in collection agency fees. (How is that allowed?)
I have offered to show proof to anyone who will look at it that my work was encouraged for years, that the treatment I received was totally unexpected, and therefore unethical. Believe me, I would have dropped out in a second had it been otherwise. TC should pay these loans, not me. I have suffered enough. If they won’t the DOE should realize that they are harassing a person who does not have the possibility of repaying this in her life-time, even if it were fair, which it is not.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to further tell my story. It has not been easy to do so. I was told, by legal agencies, that Universities have sovereignty over their academic decisions. I agree with this, when the decisions are fairly made.
But where is the protection to students from an incoming faculty member who does not like the direction encouraged work has been going- possibly for financed years- and therefore brings that work to an abrupt end?
What of the responsibility of the faculty who had supported work? Researchers work on their own, in good faith that their direction is being supervised- that they are not wasting their efforts.
Where is the protection from disruption to regular procedures in protocol? Fellow students and I were writing both papers and starting the proposal, all at the same time, after the head of the program (my first advisor) went on sabbatical.
How can a paper which two separate advisors supported, and which, with their knowledge and consent became the foundation for another certification paper and a proposal be rejected 4 years later?
What of students who are admitted to a graduate program for their expertise in a field? Is it fair that they share their perspectives with their department, worked out over years, and then be ejected? (My proposal was read, but not reviewed, by my committee).
Where is the protection from corruption that is now being applied to other fields? Why is academia exempt and students left holding the financial and professional responsibility?